Cork wires



April 23, 1968 A. PLION CORK WIRES Filed June 21, 1967 ANDRE PLION INVENTOR United States Patent Claims. (Cl. 215-94 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cork-wire comprising a wire cage with four branches each having an inwardly turned hook at one end. A ring of wire is threaded through all the hooks and is arranged to engage the lower surface of the flange on the neck of a bottle.

The present invention relates to a cork-wire intended for securing works or other stoppers on bottles containing liquids under pressure, such as champagne, wines, sparkling wines, cider or any other liquid.

For many years cork wires have been known which are constituted by suitably twisted metal wire forming a cage with four branches or limbs; at the ends of these branches a metallic wire ran forming a ring intended to be engaged beneath the glass ring with which the neck of a bottle is provided, in order to prevent the work-wire and the stopper from rising under the effect of the pressure of as. g Previously, a stamped metallic plate was fitted on the top of the cork in order to prevent the penetration of the metallic wire of the work-wire under effect of the force of the gases.

Originally, the corks or other stoppers, the plates and the cork-wires were placed in position separately at different stages of operation. Furthermore, the cork-wire was not always formed in two pieces, cage and ring, but comprised a single wire with a main branch and a knitted assembly of two free ribs in the loops of the other branches.

The evolution of automatic machines of high output intended to effect the operation of cork wiring, has led to the conception of various cork wires and particularly to incorporating directly the plate with the cork wire, in order to effect the assembly on the cork in a single operation. For certain machines, the opening loop can no longer be prefabricated and must be produced by the twisting device of the cork-wiring machine, at the moment of engaging the ring on the neck of the bottle.

On the other hand, it can be established that cork wires in two pieces which are already known do not always allow for a perfect application of the branches of the cage on the neck of the bottle and the difficulties have not been totally eliminated which result from addition to the thickness of the loops of the cage which may lead to the deterioration of the wrapping caps of metallized paper, as well as poor anchorage below the ring of the bottle.

With a view to ensuring a convenient fitting of the cork wire on the stopper and a correct arrangement opposite the twisted hook intended to effect the twisting for locking, it has already been proposed to prevent the free ring from turning too easily in the four loops of the cage. In order to do this, a part of the said ring has been shaped around the two external branches, but this has been effected by deformation of the ring in a plane perpendicular to the branches of the cage. This means has the disadvantage of being of uncertain operation, since the deformation takes place in the same plane as the twisting plane of the twisting device of the cork-wiring machine and of the exterior of the ring, which brings the "ice branches of the cage into contact with the bottle from the commencement of the securing operation, with a risk of being driven along by the wire of the ring acted upon by the hook.

The present invention has for its object an improved work-wire formed in such a manner as to overcome these difficulties.

According to the present invention there is provided in a cork-wire for securing a stopper in the neck of a bottle, a wire cage with a plurality of branches, and a wire ring threaded through corresponding ends of said branches, the improvement comprising an inwardly-directed hook formed at each said end of each said branch, each hook including a straight end part which extends substantially parallel with the lower face of a flange of the bottle, the wire ring being threaded through the hooks.

The construction in accordance with the invention enables the provision of a wrapping for the bottle which is not liable to be damaged by the cork-wire. Moreover, the hook is firmly secured beneath the ring of the neck of the bottle, as a result of practically plane-to-plane contact; it cannot open by itself under any conditions.

In an advantageous embodiment in accordance with the invention, the ring has, adjacent at least one of its branches, a deformed portion in a plane parallel to this branch. This deformation is thus perpendicular to the drawing plane of the twisting hook or other device of the cork-wiring machine. The ring is thus not liable to be displaced during the positioning of the cork-wire on the stopper or cork.

There will be described hereafter, by way of nonlimiting example, various embodiments of a cork wire in accordance with the invention with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the cork wire;

FIG. 2 is a view, to an enlarged scale, of a detail of the cork wire of FIG. 1, when engaged on a bottle;

FIG. 3 is a view in elevation of a detail of the cork wire; and

FIGS. 4 to 6 are views similar to FIG. 3 of various modifications.

In FIG. 1, the cork wire which is designated generally by the reference 1, includes a cage with four branches 2. A plate 3, intended to protect the end of the cork is incorporated in the cage. Each of the branches 2 ends in an inwardly turned hook 4 and a metallic ring 5 is slidably engaged in the hooks 4.

The cork wire 1 is intended to be mounted on a bottle of which the neck has a flange-like ring 6 having its lower face 6a plane and perpendicular to the axis of the bottle (FIG. 2). Each of the hooks 4 terminates in a straight part 4a which extends substantially perpendicularly to the corresponding branch.

It will thus be seen that the cork wire 1 has no projecting portion capable of engaging and of damaging the foil wrapping or other cover 7 which is subsequently placed over the cork wire. Moreover, the part 4a of the hook abuts, over its whole length, against the lower face 6a of the flange-like ring 6.

The ring 5 is deformed at two positions 5a, into a direction substantially parallel with the adjacent branch. This deformation can be directed upwardly (FIGS. 1 and 2) or downwardly (FIG. 4). The ring likewise can be deformed initially upwardly at 5a, then towards the base at 5b (FIG. 5) or in the opposite sense (FIG. 6). This or these deformations substantially prevent the overall deformation of the ring during the positioning of the cork wire on the bottle.

It will be clear that the invention should not be considered to be limited to the embodiments described and shown but covers, on the contrary, all modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a cork-Wire for securing a stopper in the neck of a bottle,

a wire cage with a plurality of branches, and

a wire ring threaded through corresponding ends of said branches,

the improvement comprising an inwardly-directed hook formed at each said end of each said branch, each book including a straight end part which extends substantially parallel with the lower face of a flange of the bottle, and terminates at said lower face,

the wire ring being threaded through the hooks.

2. A cork-wire according to claim 1, wherein the straight part of each hook extends substantially perpendicularly t0 the longitudinal axis of the cork wire.

3. A cork-wire according to claim 1, wherein the ring has adjacent at least one of said branches, a deformed portion extending in a plane substantially parallel to this branch.

4. A cork-wire according to claim 3, wherein the deformed portion extends away from the hooks.

5. A cork-Wire according to claim 1, wherein the cage further includes a wire assembly joining the Wires of the branches at the ends thereof remote from the ring.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,339,775 9/1967 Valentin 215--94 FOREIGN PATENTS 63,574 9/1955 France.

1st addition 1,010,516

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

R. PESHOCK, Assistant Examiner. 

